Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Brian Burke is determined to improve on their #1 weakness from last season, no depth at centre, So today he trades a 4th round draft pick to New Jersey for 29 year old David Steckel. Steckel is not a scorer and in his best season he only scored 19 points. But the former 1st round draft pick is 6'5" and an excellent faceoff man. In fact he led the NHL in faceoff wins with a 62.3% success rate. He is a great penalty killer and has over 100 hits and over 30 blocked shots.

He will step into the centre spot on the 4th line. Which leaves Tyler Bozak who played most of last season on the 1st line in the pressbox. However, I wouldn't expect him to remain in the pressbox for long considering the health status of Maple Leaf centres. Unless he gets traded.

As a side note. David Steckel is best known these days for his blind side hit on Sidney Crosby at the Wnter Classic in January. So far Crosby has yet to return from that hit.

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About Me

The Toronto Maple Leafs won their final Stanley Cup in the 1966–67 season. On March 3, 1968 in a blockbuster trade, Mahovlich was sent to the Detroit Red Wings with Pete Stemkowski, Garry Unger, and the rights to Carl Brewer for Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson, Floyd Smith and Doug Barrie. Mahovlich went on to win two more Stanley Cups with Montreal. The Maple Leafs have never even made to the Cup finals since that trade.